For many years, vehicles have included seatbelts for passenger safety. Seatbelts for passengers have been required devices in aircraft and automobiles in most countries for a long time. The benefits in limiting injury by restraining passengers in moving vehicles are well-known. The kinetic energy of a moving body when a vehicle's motion changes abruptly can be destructive and sometimes deadly. Seatbelts absorb and distribute much of that energy, greatly reducing the potential for injury. In an automobile, the seatbelt is primarily a restraint to keep the passenger from striking the vehicle interior or being thrown from the vehicle in case of collision. The primary function in an automobile is to keep the passenger from moving forward away from the seat. In aircraft, the seatbelt's primary purpose is to restrain the passenger during in-flight turbulence and in the event of abrupt strong deceleration in take-off and landing phases. While an aircraft seatbelt serves the same function as an automobile seatbelt of restraining forward motion, the more usual occurrence is passenger restraint in the vertical direction due to rapid descent, and less frequently in side-to-side directions during turbulence. Aircraft passengers that are not secured by a seatbelt during turbulence can be suddenly hurled about the cabin with great force. Aircraft seatbelts ensure passenger as well as flight safety.
Despite the known benefits of restraining passengers during flight, in most cases, cargo that is not stowed in a compartment, is usually not or ineffectively restrained. Similarly, cargo in automobile passenger compartments is rarely restrained. Depending on the direction of motion of the vehicle and the direction of the acceleration to which the cargo is subjected, unrestrained cargo on an automobile or aircraft seat holds enormous potential for causing injury and damage. The potential for damage and injury is heightened by the fact that many carry-on items, such as computer equipment and laptop computers have hard and sharp corners. The kinetic energy of unrestrained cargo, in an automobile accident or aircraft turbulence and fast deceleration, poses a serious hazard that has long gone unaddressed.
Thus, a need exists for a cargo harness for vehicle seats that is universally applicable in a diverse number of settings. Additionally desirable features are that the harness be rapidly installable and removable so that it can be carried and used by passengers or aircraft personnel, that the harness be economically feasible and that the harness be adjustable to accommodate a variety of hand-carried cargo shapes and sizes.